Cooperation patterns of incubator firms and the impact of incubator specialization: Empirical evidence from Germany

The article examines cooperation patterns of 150 firms located in German business incubators (BIs). More specifically, this study distinguishes between networking within the tenant portfolio and the academic–industry linkages of the tenant firms. We further contribute to the relevant literature by explicitly considering differences in cooperation patterns between firms located on diversified and specialized incubator facilities. Empirical results do not support the common assumption that specialized incubation strategies increase the effectiveness of incubator-internal networking compared to diversified BIs. Also, incubator specialization is not superior to diversified incubators with respect to the promotion of linkages of their tenants with academic institutions. For academic linkages, industry effects matter more than incubator characteristics.